1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a ratchet wheel. More particularly, the present invention relates to a ratchet wheel for a fishing reel, which is attached to a first component for the fishing reel, and is engaged with a claw member, which is pivotally mounted to a second component that is configured to be rotatable relatively to the first component.
2. Background Art
In a dual-bearing reel as one type of fishing reels, ratchet wheels are used for an anti-reverse mechanism configured to prevent reverse rotation of a spool and a spool sound producing mechanism configured to produce a sound in conjunction with rotation of the spool. On the other hand, in a spinning reel as another type of fishing reels, a ratchet wheel is used for a sound producing mechanism configured to produce a sound in conjunction with rotation of a spool. Such a well-known ratchet wheel is a plate-shaped member, and has a plurality of teeth that are disposed on the outer peripheral surface of the ratchet wheel while being circumferentially aligned at intervals (see e.g., Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2006-087301).
The conventional ratchet wheel is formed by a plate-shaped member, and therefore, the axial thickness thereof is small. Where such a ratchet wheel has a small thickness, there are chances of producing a trouble that a sound producing mechanism cannot normally produce a sound when the ratchet wheel and a claw member are axially displaced from each other. On the other hand, there are chances of producing a trouble that the claw member is disengaged from the ratchet wheel in the anti-reverse mechanism and this makes it impossible to prevent reverse rotation of the spool. Therefore, the well-known claw member is axially elongated to cope with such troubles. For example, to axially elongate the claw member, the claw member is increased in its thickness, or alternatively, is formed in a shape bent along the axial direction. However, when the claw member is bent along the axial direction, the strength of the claw member is degraded. Therefore, such claw member can be used for the spool sound producing mechanism but cannot be used for the anti-reverse mechanism.
It is an object of the present invention to inhibit occurrence of a trouble in a ratchet wheel without elongating the axial length of a claw member even when the ratchet wheel and the claw member are displaced from each other.